Helena’s Hawaiian Food

Helena’s Hawaiian Food was no doubt my favourite establishment in Oahu. The unassuming eatery remained busy throughout the whole afternoon on our visit. We waited about half an hour for a table when we arrived at around 2pm on a Thursday.

The menu. I loved how the food came in small dishes so that we could order a bit of almost everything to try.

Luau Squid, USD$4.10. Tenderly cooked squid stewed in taro leaves and coconut milk. I had no clue what luau was so I didn’t expect it to come out like this – it was like a treasure hunt trying to find squid in this green mushy mess.

Loki Salmon, USD$4.10.

Short Ribs Pipikaula style, USD $7.50 (small).

This was amazing! You must have it together with raw onion slices and pink salt. The flavours, the aromatic tang, the lovely aftertaste in your mouth. Must try.

Fried Butterfish Collar, USD $5.50.

Laulau, USD $4.25.

Laulau is a traditional Hawaiian dish with pork wrapped in leaves. It reminded us of Zongzi.

Haupia, complimentary. This coconut based dessert was the perfect end to a great feast.

If you want more, you can even order the whole pan to take home!

It was such a satisfying meal…The rice was cooked perfectly too if I may add.

The price was reasonable and service was friendly. I highly recommend Helena’s Hawaiian Food if you are looking for authentic Hawaiian food in Oahu.

Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck

Giovanni’s was my other favourite in Oahu. The north coast of Oahu is famous for its food trucks and Giovanni’s is the king of them all. I mean, look at this queue.

The menu.

We got one Shrimp Scampi, USD $13, and one Hot & Spicy, USD $13.

The Hot & Spicy shrimps on the menu read “Very Hot. No Refund”, and they’re not joking. The sauce actually was very hot, but in a good way.

The garlic shrimps were my favourite. Must try!

The service was very efficient. You basically line up at the counter, order and pay, and you get your food straight away.

If there is anyone in your group that doesn’t eat shrimps, tell them there are other food trucks in this carpark (burgers, fish, Korean stir-fried, etc). There was also a drinks truck that sold boba tea, fresh fruit juice, smoothies and acai bowl right next to Giovanni’s.

Mackys Shrimp Truck

We wanted to get a second serving of shrimps from Giovanni’s before we headed back to Honolulu, unfortunately, we arrived just after 5pm and they had already closed (sad face)!

We decided to give Macky’s next door a try.

Macky’s truck was the first food truck we saw when we turned into Haleiwa coming from Honolulu. Accordingly to the sign, it was “Voted #1 in the Islands“.

The verdict: Good, but it wasn’t Giovanni’s. We got the Butter Garlic, USD$13. It was the same price as Giovanni’s but 4 shrimps and one scoop of rice less. To be fair, I guess it’s a more balanced diet because in exchange of the 4 shrimps, it came with some greens and a slice of pineapple…

Dole’s Whip

Ted’s Bakery

Ted’s Bakery was the home of the original chocolate haupia cream pie.

Pies and Cakes. Lots of pies and cakes.

We had the Chocolate Haupia Cream, their signature pie. It’s cool because it combined Hawaiian’s traditional haupia coconut pudding with dark chocolate custard cream and whip cream. I didn’t fancy the crust but the filling was good.

{Ted's Bakery}
Website: http://www.tedsbakery.com

Matsumoto Shave Ice

To be honest I’m not sure why flavoured shave ice is such a craze in Oahu. Maybe it’s because we went in winter so we weren’t desperate for shave ice given that it was quite chilly.

It’s really just shave ice with flavoured food colouring. You can pick your own flavours or order the set flavours on the board.

The Cheesecake Factory

I heard mixed reviews on the Cheesecake Factory so we didn’t eat here, instead, we got a cheesecake to-go.

Decision decision…spoiled with choices! I asked the staff for his favourite and he answered FreshStrawberry Cheesecake, $USD $8.50, without hesitation. I took his advice and I liked it. It was quite pricey for a slice of cheesecake though.

Ramen Nakamura

On our last night in Oahu, we realised we hadn’t had any Japanese food yet. I quickly used the free wiki on Waikiki beach to search for famous Japanese food nearby, that’s when we found Ramen Nakamura. There was a queue outside so we thought it looked promising.

The menu.

Mike got a Ramen Combo which came with a fried rice and three gyoza, USD $16.30. The price included tips and there were signs in the restaurant that said there is no need to leave tips.

I got the Ox Tail Shio Ramen, $17.50, which was their specialty.

The ramen was very different to the ramen we have in Sydney. The broth was thin and the flavouring was light. The ramen didn’t win my heart, but I did notice quite a lot of Japanese people in the restaurant so they must be doing something right?